(a) Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a system that can automatically dispense (prepare) a plurality of dye solutions for color matching of various colors at high precision (accuracy) and high efficiency by mixing barious kinds of materials at optional ratios according to the particular object.
(b) Description of the Prior Art:
As regards the preparation or dispensation of dye solutions, it has been common practice heretofore to empirically select several kinds of dyes composing the color of the desired color sample, thereby to prepare a dye solution in which a coth is dyed, and then to compare the dyed color with the color sample and decide the final recipe of the dye solution, after repeating this operation several times or more, if necessary. In recent years, a method generally called computer color matching (CCM) has been developed, by which color matching is performed by the utilization of a spectrophotometer and a digital computer.
By this CCM method, it has become rapid and easy to analyze a color sample and to express the color sample by dye concentrations based on the three primary colors. However, it is inevitably necessary for the color matching operation to select proper dyes based on the three primary colors thus expressed, from many dyes sold on the market, considering the quality and economy of the dyed products such as color fastness and costs, and to examine the perfect coincidence of the dyed color with the color sample by the naked eye. It is the present situation that the operation of preparing or dispensing a dye solution with selected dyes relies on handwork, and this work requires long experience and great skill as well as a lot of time and labor.
Under such a situation, various sytems for performing the above mentioned dispensing operation automatically have been proposed in recent years. These include the so-called volume method based on the measurement of the volumes of stock dye solutions, etc. as described in Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-open) No. 122068/1980 and No. 66171/1982, and the so-called weight method which is based on the measurement of the weight of stock dye solutions, etc. as described in Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-open) No. 159342/1981.
In the above-mentioned volume method, although it contributes to high speed operation and labor saving, errors are liable to occur resulting from volume changes which accompany temperature variations, mixing of air bubbles, etc. and therefore problems remain unsolved with respect to precision.
On the other hand, in the weight method, higher precision dispensing is possible in contrast to the volume method. However, since the materials such as stock dye solutions, etc. must be weighed one by one with a single electronic balance, problems remain unsolved with respect to the increase of dispensation efficiency.
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a system which makes it possible to automatically dispense (compound) dye solutions for color matching use of a great variety of colors at high precision and high efficiency.